Program overview and eligibility

In August 2020, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) implemented the Fish Harvester Benefit and Grant Program to support Canada’s self-employed fish harvesters who were economically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but who were not eligible for other existing federal measures.

Fish Harvester Benefit

The Fish Harvester Benefit offered income support to self-employed fish harvesters and self-employed sharepersons (those who received a share of landed value, and were not wage-earning employees) who suffered self-employed fishing income loss in 2020 compared to 2018 or 2019, as reported to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

Payments were:

• made at 75% of income losses beyond a 25% threshold for the 2020 tax year when compared to 2018 or 2019
• made in two instalments, after the first application in 2020 and second application in 2021
• not to exceed a total combined first and second instalment amount of $10,164.00

Fish Harvester Grant

The Fish Harvester Grant supported vessel operators/owners with non-deferrable business expenses during the 2020 fishing year. It provided a grant to self-employed fish harvesters with a history of catch (in 2018 or 2019) and a valid fishing licence for 2020.

Payments were:

• made at 10% of the higher gross income from fishing income in 2018 or 2019 as reported to CRA
• not to exceed $10,000
• not to exceed actual 2020 expenses
• made in one installment, after the first application in 2020

Self-employed harvester historical income requirement

The benefit and grant payments were based on historical participation as a self-employed commercial fish harvester. The benefit and the grant were income-based, so previous income as a self-employed commercial fish harvester as reported to CRA was required to calculate payment amounts.

For the benefit, using historic self-employed fish harvester income allowed for the calculation of income losses in 2020 compared to previous years. The benefit was issued in two payments based on two applications, one application in phase one and a second in phase two of the program.

For the grant, using historic self-employed income provided a means to issue grant money during the 2020 fishing season as opposed to waiting until 2021 when actual business costs were determined.

Eligibility

• Benefit
• Grant

Second application for the benefit

Timelines

The application for the second benefit payment was:

• mandatory – if you didn’t reapply, you would automatically have been in an overpayment situation
• only available if you applied for and were eligible for the first benefit payment

There was no second payment for the grant, therefore if you are a harvester who received only the grant, you didn’t need to submit a second application.

Information required

To apply for the second payment of the Fish Harvester Benefit, you needed to provide the following information:

• Name
• Social Insurance Number (SIN)
• Date of birth
• Contact information, if it changed since your first application, such as:
  • home address
  • phone
  • email
• 2020 tax information, including information from the 2020 Notice of Assessment from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), unless your income is tax exempt under the Indian Act. This information was required to confirm your eligibility and to calculate the amount of the second benefit payment.
• Banking information for payment, if you updated your banking information since your first application
• Business number, if applicable

The Income Tax Act permits taxpayer information to be shared by CRA with DFO and Employment and Social Development Canada for the purposes of administering and enforcing the program. You provided your consent on your initial and  second applications.

Indigenous harvester not required to file taxes

Some Indigenous harvesters are tax exempt as per section 87 of the Indian Act. Other records were requested by DFO to support commercial fishing income losses while processing the second application, such as:

• Record of Employment – Self-employed Fisher
• Fish catch records from communities
• Trip Settlement Reports (or Reconciliation Reports) for crew members
• Other records to be determined with community Fishing Offices, as appropriate

Payment calculation

If you underestimated your self-employed income losses during your initial application, the second benefit payment may have been higher than you originally anticipated.

Likewise, if your losses were less than anticipated:

• your second benefit payment may have been less than originally anticipated; or
• you may be in an overpayment situation

Similarly for the grant, you may be in an overpayment situation if you:

• overreported your revenues for 2018 or 2019, or
• have actual 2020 losses exceeding the grant you received

For administrative efficiency reasons, no payment was issued if the amount was less than $2.

Appeals

If you received an overpayment letter or you received a payment that was less than expected, you had the right to appeal the decision according to the timelines and procedures for appeal.

Some reasons why an appeal was not approved

• Only harvesters that submitted an application in 2020 and were eligible for the Program could submit the second application. Sometimes individuals who had not filed a first application prior to the filing deadline sought to appeal. However it was not possible to submit an application after the deadline for submission had passed.
• Unless exempted under the Indian Act¸ you couldn’t use income that was not reported to the CRA as self-employed fishing income. Only income reported to the CRA as self-employed fishing income could be considered to assess eligibility and/or entitlement for the program.
• You couldn’t change the reference year selected during your first application, i.e. it was not possible to change 2018 to 2019, or vice versa, for the basis of comparison after you filed your application.
• You couldn’t submit your second application for the Fisherman's Benefit after October 31, 2021.
• The tax information you provided to CRA indicated that you were a wage-earning employee, and did not have self-employed fishing income as required for eligibility.